Raag Bindas: Ladki Public Name: Lobhamani Lollipopni Lahani

Titles: Even the poison of free tastes sweet. (Chelvani) A rat created terror in a house. The people of the house go to catch it, but the mouse enters a hole. Then the people of the house put cheese on a bread and put it near the ear. After a while, the mouse appeared from the corn, but immediately grabbed a piece of bread and hid in the corn. This continued for 2-3 consecutive days. Then everyone got excited and put the bread on the bread without cheese, as usual, the mouse came out and asked, 'Which two? No cheese today, fat chadi hai sab ko?' Meaning, if you give help or benefit to someone, then the other person gets used to it. Greed is considered a right and help is an achievement. Then the desire of greater gain, greater help, or greater temptation, the demand of man, like a deep well, never suffices. Recently, the Maharashtra government released the 'Ladki Baheen' (Sister) scheme due to the upcoming assembly elections. It promises to give 1500 rupees per month to 1.5 crore women of Maharashtra. To make matters worse, the 'Ladka Bhau' (brother) scheme was introduced, in which rickshaw-taxi drivers above 65 years of age will get Rs 1,500 per month and domestic workers above 55 years will get Rs 10,000 per month. So and so, 'Ladki Sali', 'Ladka Sasara', 'Ladka Sadhubhai', 'Ladki Nanand', 'Ladki Padoshan' and nothing else, 'Ladko Vandho' or 'Ladko Bekar', 'Ladko Pakitmar', etc. Jatja's plans will come. Hindi satirist Sharad Joshi says, 'Plans continue to be made in the country for years and nothing gets done. If it works, it takes a long time. The most difficult and the biggest 'plan' in this country is the plan to make the 'plan' itself!' Earlier the country had 'Five Year Plans' which were extended every five years for another five years. Earlier, a carrot was dangled in front of a donkey, now it works just by saying 'carrot' in the donkey's ear! Interval: There are lovers in this world who do not promise and fail. (Mariz) A husband never romances his wife. Wife got tired of beating him. But one day suddenly, the husband woke up in the morning and pulled his wife close and said, 'I love you, darling!' Wife is happy to hear. Then before going to office the husband said again, 'Oh darling, be ready in the evening, for a surprise!' The poor wife could not believe it but was happy and ashamed. In the afternoon, the husband called again and said, 'Darling, I will not leave you today! Miss You!' The wife was shocked to hear it. In the evening, the wife was decorated and dressed in sexy clothes. As soon as the husband came from the office, he said, 'Darling, today is your day…' When the wife ran to hug her husband, the husband laughed loudly and said, 'April fool! April Fools!' The wife is unconscious! In the same way, governments often pamper people with promises of a happy life. That is why the Punjabi poet Pash says: 'I have bought a ticket and come to see your republican drama!' Every party, since independence till date, has been giving out greedy lollipops to get votes: in the name of schemes, but the schemes benefit the leaders more than the people. Most of the time the plans remain on paper and later that paper also gets lost. Some plan of free food and some plan of giving rupees every month. It is as if a price tag is placed on every person in the country. Words like 'free trains' or 'beneficiary relief scheme' simply change, but not the politics. The bargain of hunger and the price of hunger is spoken, the poverty of the helpless people keeps weighing on the scales of the vote. This does not happen only in India. Even now in Japan, there is a plan to 'encourage city women to marry village men' that if a city girl marries a village boy, she will be given 3.50 lakh rupees in cash and a girl from the city to the village will give a free train ticket when she goes to see the boy! Villages are disappearing in Japan. Also, young women have more opportunities for higher education and employment in Japanese cities than young men. That is why Japanese girls run away from the village. But this plan to pump the local population of the villages was a big flop. If we come to such a plan, many smart girls will get married in the village and then drive the boys to the city! Until recently, children were provided breakfast and afternoon meal under the 'Midday Meal Scheme' in government schools in Gujarat. From now on only lunch will be available as the government launched the scheme in 2017 without thinking about the cost of breakfast, say! That is why breakfast was not served in most of the schools. Let's not mind, we still have lunch, right? So be happy, kiddos… As the great thinker Milton Friedman said decades ago: 'No lunch is free.' Nothing comes for free, except a promise! End-Titles: Adam: Love for Free? Eve: Take me to dinner and tell me! }

Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).